Woman Who Stole Money From Bank To Spend In Mobile Legends Could Face 20 Years Jail Time

Mobile Legends is one of the most popular games in South East Asia. This game offers interesting skins for gamers to buy and one woman was caught stealing due to her great desire of buying skin in the multiplayer online battle arena mobile game.

The General Crimes Investigation Directorate of the Jakarta Police is accusing a female gamer, identified as YS, of having stolen Rp 1.85 billion (US$127,498) from a bank to purchase items on the popular multiplayer online game. YS was arrested in Pontianak on May 1, 2019, and she is facing the possibility of being jailed for 20 years for her crime.

Police received a report from the unnamed bank about the losses it suffered after detecting some suspicious transactions in Mobile Legends made by an account.

Deputy chief of the directorate, Adj. Sr. Comr. Ade Ary Syam Indradi said:

“After purchasing some items in the game, no funds got deducted from the gamer’s account, causing losses for the partner bank.”

Having noticed that no money got taken out of her account, YS kept on making illegal transactions for over a year. According to Ade, YS added multiple digits to the account that was directed by the game.

She is now facing charges under Article 362 of the Criminal Code (KUHP) on Theft, and Article 85 of Law No. 3/2011 on illegal money transfer and money laundering.

Ade said:

“She made the purchases repeatedly. She did not spend 1.85 billion rupiah all at once, but in amounts of several hundred thousand at a time. She did it with full knowledge that the purchases made in game did not reflect in her actual bank balance.”

Although some reports revealed that illegal money transfer and money laundering has a maximum sentence of five years in jail, TribunWow said that YS could possibly face 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of Rp. 5 billion (US$347,497.50).